Hello from the beach!
There's one spot on our screened in front porch where I get a wireless connection. It's probably coming from one of the neighbors, so shhh. But it's allowed me to catch up on emails a bit while Maia naps.
And now to post.
To tell you the truth, I was thinking of taking a complete break from blogging while on vacation. But I do have this wireless access after all... And I'm feeling very relaxed after being here for a few days. I think this is the first time I've missed a day since I started the blog in January. And not just one, but a few! I know I've used the word "obsessed" a lot lately, but I was (and am) just a bit obsessed about the blog.
I know a lot of you have blogs too. Until I started mine, I didn't even know what they were really and didn't read any. I started looking around as I was setting mine up--it was a whole new world to me! I even had to ask my tech savvy friend Molly to explain what a blog reader was.
I love blogging though. Taking a vacation and not posting for a few days has given me the distance to think about it a bit. When I'm not twirling Maia around on the beach or reading my favorite Banana Yoshimoto novel for the umpteenth time, that is.
Blogging allows someone to set up their own little corner of the web, put up a sign that says "mine", and to start writing/posting/sharing about whatever really makes them tick. And pretty soon some other people come along who say, "hey, yeah, I like that too." And you start connecting with others all over the world who are interested in similar things. I love it. And to think that until a few months ago I didn't even know about blogs except as an abstract concept--"another kind of website."
Blogs are great for people like me who are a bit shy and introspective. The kind of person who would probably fill a journal rather than pour their heart out to a group of people. And yet blogging gives me just enough distance to do that sometimes and to be okay with it. Not that I'm divulging huge personal secrets here, but still...
I'm a one-on-one kind of person. I often have a hard time speaking up in groups, but can have a great in-depth conversation with just one other person (from my perspective anyway). And when I post on my blog, I kind of feel that way--that I'm just talking/sharing with a friend. So thank you for being that friend. And thank you for all of your comments and emails over the past several months. I read them all and love them. I try to respond to them all, too, but know that I haven't always been great about that.
Anyway, thank you all for helping to make my blog an interesting place where I want to spend time. I've loved carving out my own little corner of the internet and sharing my love of art and beauty, my passion for giving kids access to art materials and complete freedom to create with them, my love of children's picture books, my curiousity about other artful people, and my own exploration of sewing and crafting.
This has been a way for me to find myself in a way and to focus on being more artful, but also a way for me to connect with all of you interesting people out there! A whole new world has opened up to me. I love sharing my world with you and finding out about your worlds. And learning that, hey, we're not so different after all! So thank you.
And before I get completely sappy, I'll sign off. I started this post intending to write about a puppet show that we took Maia too and about our time at the beach. but instead went off on an entirely different tangent. Maybe I'll write about the puppet show another time...
Thanks for listening, and take care, -Jean
